Beet-harvesting machine.



C. H. HILL.

BEET HARVESTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Nov.27. 191s.

PatentedDec. 1&1917.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

' c. H. HILL.

v B EET HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.2I. I9l5.

Patented Dec. 18,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v m %JMM C. H. HILL.

BEET HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27. I915.

1,250,458. Patented Deals, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- v tlno q c. H. HILL.

BEET HARVESTING MACHINE; APRucmon FILED NOV. 21. m5.

Patented Dec. 18,1917.

1,25o,45sI

4 SHEETS-SHEE T 4.

M M a u a 1 proved beet harvesting machine;

nism;

cHnRLEs H. HILL, or NICHOLS, FLORIDA."

To all whom it may concern: 4 Beit known thatI, CHARLES H. HILP, c1t1-zen of theUnited States, residing at Nichols, in the county of Polk andState of Florida,

have invented certain new and useful .Im-

i provement's in Beet-Harvesting Machines, of which-the following is aspecification.

My invention relatesto beet harvesting machines and contemplatesprimarily a novel mechanism whereby beets may be grasped,.

extracted, topped and collected, through operation of apeculiarlyconstructedtrac tion wheel. Y

The invention may-fbe saidto consist in the novel construction,combination and ar- ,rangement of parts hereinafter more particu-u larlydescribed and specifically pointed outinthe appended claims. ,j In thedrawings, annexed:

*Fig.-2is a topplan view, the duplicate power .or traction wheels being:shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a section on the Fig. 2';

Fig. '4: is..a detail sectional view of the:

mechanism utilized to vertically adjust the main frame ofthe machine;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the trip mecha- Fig. 6 is tion, of one of theseveral grabs; and

Fig. 7 is-a similar view, the ends of the 85 grabs belng shown inelevation.

Fig. 8, is a detail view in side elevation partly in'section, of a latchmechanism, andil ig. 9, is a; view of the latch mechanism in frontelevation.

or-corresponding parts throughout-the several v ews.

Before proceeding with a description of. the drawings I desire tocallpart1cularat tention to the fact that while I have evolved myinvention withreference to its useas a beet harvesting machine, the.same, IfLlGSII'Gd,

and upon: slight modification, may. be uti liz ed for harvestingturnips, onions, and in fact, any and allanalogous herbs;

Referring now to the drawings bynumerals, 1 designates the frontsupporting wheels and 2 the rearsupport-ing wheels of my improved beetharvesting. machine.- The main: frame of the machine, designated as an.en--

tirety= by the. numeral-:3, ismountedito :rest: I

F igure' 1-. is a side elevation of'iny im= line of a detail elevation,partly insec Like numerals of reference'designatelike' .BEET-HARVESTINGMACHINE. 1

7 Application filed November 27, 1915. Seria1 No. 63,844.

uponthe front axle 4 and the rear axle/5, said axles mountingrespectively the men. tioned supporting wheels l and 2;

A beet root receptacle 6 is mounted at the rear end of the machine and abeet top reof the saidreceptacles being equipped with a hinge doorwhereby access may be gained thereto for the obvious purpose of removingthe deposit therefrom. e

The extracting mechanism, hereinafter more particularly described, ismounted centrally of themain frame 3 uponashaft 8 extending transverselythereof, said shaft frame. The said extracting mechanism in itspreferred embodiment may be'said to con- 51st of duplicatetractionwheels, each designated as; an entirety by the numeral 10(preferably two), disposed, one at each side of the'machine frame 3 andmounted for ro- .tation in unison upon said'axle or shaft'8.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Pate t d1) 1 119176:

,ceptacle 7 at theforward end thereof, ieach being journaled in bearings'9 aflixed to said One of said wheels 10 is adjustable laterally 5 withrespect to the otherthrough manipulation of a thumb nut 11, that beetsin rows may be extracted (two rows actedonat a time) where the distancebetween themen tioned rows varies. Each ofthe said wheels 10 being induplicate, a description of but. one of the said wheels will hereinafterap:-

pear. 1

Each of the mentioned. traction wheels 10. comprises a rim portion 12 towhich the spokes 13 radiating from the shaft are.fa s tened. Teeth 14are formed on the inner peripery of the imier rim 12 that the teeth ofa. gear 15 may mesh therewith. Gear 15 ings 17 secured to the. mainframe'3. The

a is mounted on a shaft 16 jour'naled'in bear-- teeth of-gear 15 are inmesh with the teeth of agear 16' mounted'on a shaft 17 likewise ournaled1n bearings secured to said frame-3. A plurality of grabs, each desig'nated as an entirety by the numeral 18 project radially from the rimstructure 12, each grab comprising a palr of opposed gripping Y I arms19 and 20 fulcrumed as at 21 between the sides of a frame 22-movablerelativelyto the said rim 12. Each gripping member isof a substantiallybell crank constructionand,

pivoted'as at 23 to a link Q'in-turn-pivoted as at 25 to a rod 26hereinafterdesignated an operating rod. The arrangement of themembers'19v and 20 and the connections between the membersand 'therod 26is best shown in zF-ig-.-..6"of:the drawings. The-said rod 26.. I

penetrates the rim structure 12 at one side of that portion of saidstructure engaged by. the gear 15. Said rod terminates at its inner endin a trip plate 27 with which a coacting plate 28 is adapted to engageduring operation of the machine. Plate 28 is mounted. on a rod 29pivoted as at 30 to a rod 31 in turn fastened as at 32 to the gear 16,such connection affording a means whereby the trip plate 23 may bereciprocated to engage with and actuate each of the several grabs 18.Rod 29 is mounted to operate in a guide 33 therefor.

A spring 3% is associated with the rod 26 to normally exert an upwardpressure there on that the members 19 and 20 maybe nor- .mally spaced.Said spring 34: is suitably inclosed, a hollow casing 35 affording theinclosing means. One end of the spring 31- abuts against the frame 22and the opposite end against a flange 36 mounted on the rod 26 that saidrod may be normally maintained in a position to spread or separate thegripping members 19 and 20. The casing- 35 extends into a sleeve likeguide 37' therefor (one at each end) said casing being maintainedextended.relatively to the rim structure 12 through the mediunrof aspring 38 arranged in said sleeve to abut at one end against saidcasing-and at its opposite end against said structure 12. The sleeve 37is braced as indicated at'39.

A shoe s0 is pivoted as at 41 to the free end of each member 19' andeach member 20, each shoe being squipped with a removable contact membersl2 fastened to said shoe as indicated at 43. Detachable wearing strips44 are secured to the contact member 42 for direct engagement with thebeets orother herb to be extracted. Springs 45 engage the shoe to at theopposite ends thereof to yieldin ly maintain said shoes in thedesiredposition, the mentioned springs acting to counteract the tension of thesprings 38 associated with each grab.

A spring actuated blade 16 is mounted at the rear end of the machine tooperate between the shoes lO during rotation of the traction wheel. Saidblade l6 is support ed, as indicated in Fig. 1 by means of a standard e7attached to the machine frame. By the disposition of the blade 46 in themanner stated, the tops of the extracted beets may be severed to in suchmanner permit the beet roots thus released to fall into the receptacle 6therefor positioned beneath said topping mechanism.'

Continued rotation of the wheel lO'after the tops have been severed,will convey said beet tops to in this manner permit the tops to fall bygravity onto a conveyer 50 mounted to operate at the forward end ofthemachine. The latch mechanism 49 comprises a one end of the pawl andthe same is engageable by a wedge shaped member 49 mounted on the rod-26, whereby when the rod is pushed outward the latch member 49 willengage behind the member 49 retaining the rod n fixed position. A flatspring member s9 1s secured to the pawl to engage the member 49 topermit the same to break joint with the pawl during the describedmovement of the rod26, the latch member and pawl being however,connected in a manner to prevent the members from breaking joints inanopposite direction, thereby retaining the rod in its outward position.A coil spring49 encircles the pin 49 and engages the pawl to normallyretain the same in a position to be engagedby the wedge shaped member493Gonveyer 50 is of the endlesstype' and is disposed to operate overpulleys 51 and 52, the latter being:

driven by means'of a chain 53 operating over a sprocket oe mounted upona shaft supporting the pulley 52 and over a sprocket 56 mounted on theshaft 16 mounting the gear 15 aforesaid. Through the agency ofsaid'shaft 16, conveyer 50 is operated. Move ment of the endlessconveyor 50 will direct the beettops to the receptacle 7.

That the traction wheel 10 may be'elevated to a position out of contactwith-the ground, I provide a means whereby the forward end of themachine frame may be raised. The said means in its preferred embodimentconsists of an operating screw rod 57, a jack nut and a bearing support59, the latter engaging the front axle 4 of the machine as illustratedto advantage in Fig. 2

1. Through operation of the screw rod 57,

the forward endof the machine is elevated and as the shaft 8 is borne bythe machine frame, it is evident that the operating or traction wheell0'will be removed from engagement withthe ground.

Opposed cutters 60 are disposed in such relation as to penetrate thesoil at each side of the beet row to in such manner act upon the rows ofbeets as to permit of subsequent;

extraction by contact with the radial grabs.

Having described the construction of the" harvesting machine, I shallnowproceed w1th'a'descr1pt1on of the operation. The

tract-ion wheels 10 are first lowered into con;

tact-withthe ground through operation'of the screw rod 57. One of thetraction wheels than ad ustedlaterally of the machine I whereuponthedraft utilized forpropelling v the machineis applied. As-the'machine'advances' in the direction indicated by the arthe ground. The mentionedcontact devices 4 f frame that the saidtwo wheels' may. be pos'itioneddirectly above the parallel beetrows tion, and the contact. devices 44'pre'ssedf firmly against the beet tops at a point where the beet rootsterminate. The .catch mechanism 49 now operates to retain the de-:

I pressed rod 26 indepressed-posltion and the engagement with the beets.Continued movementioned contact device in firm frictional ment of themachine Will cause the traction Wheels-10 to be turned in the directionin di-,

cated by'the arrow in Fig. lwhereupon'the beets willbe bodily pulled orextracted from Y will continue their hold upon the thus extracted beetsuntil the said beets are moved into contact with the blade 46 whereuponthe roots are severed to fall by gravity into the receptacle 6, the tops(being still grasped the contact devices 44) moving with the wheel untilreleased through engagement of the member 48 with the pawl49 of thelatch mechanism. The pawl 49* when engaged by the member 48 is rotatedupon its pin 49 whereby the latch member 49 is disengaged from thewedged member 49 As the said member 48'releases the latch, spring 34will cause members 19 and 20 to separate, thus releasing the beet topsand permitting said tops to fall by gravityonto the conveyer 50 wherethey are discharged finally into the receptacle 7. i

As before suggested, the cutters will operate at each side of the beetrow to facilitate subsequent extraction of the beets in the mannerstated. 7

Gear 16 is of a size whereby to move trip plate 28 associated therewithinto contact with the several plates 27 when said plates shall have beenbrought into a position div rectly therebeneath.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsitis evident that the entire extracting operation is absolutely automatic;that the power necessary to operation of the trip mechanism and theconveyer 50 is derived through-rotation of the traction wheel 10; andthat when not in use, the mentioned traction wheel may be elevated froma position outof contact with the ground whereupon rotation of Saidwheel 10 will cease.

In reduction to practice, I have found that the form v of my invention,ustrated in the drawings, and-.Ereferred tointhe above. de- I scription,as'the preferred embodiment, is

the most efilcient and'practical; yet realize ingi that/the conditionsconcurrent with the adoption of" my device-will nccessarily vary, Iidesire to emphasize therfat that various minor changes {in details ofconstruction, proport on and arrangement of parts may a be resorted to,when required, withoutsacrificing'any of theadvantagesofinvention,asdefined in the appended claims.

rality of opposed gripping members mount-q ed on said shaft for rotationduring advancement of the machine means to yieldingly maintain saidgripping. members in .contact with the ground, a means to move saidmembers into gripping engagement with the beets, ameans tomaintain saidmembers in engagement with the beets during extraction, and a meansoperable sub sequent to extraction of the beets to release said members.7

V 2. In a beet harvesting machine, extractlng mechanism comprlsmg ashaft, an operating gear mounted on said shaft, gripping membersarranged in pairs and radially with soy respect to said operating gear,said members U being adapted for engagement with the ground duringadvancement of the. machine. to rotate said gear, a means operated bysaid gear to move said members into gripping engagement with the beetsprior to extraction, means to maintain said members in grippingengagement with the beets durmg extraction and a means operable to re-:lease the beets when extracted. Y 1 i 3. In a beet harvesting machine,extracting mechanism comprising a shaft, an operating gear mounted onsaid shaft, gripping members arranged in pairs and radially with respectto said gear,said gripping members being adapted for contact with theground during advancement'of the machine to ro-' tate said operatinggear, a means operated by said gear to move said members into.

to extraction, a means to maintain said gripping members in engagementwith the beets during extraction, a means to release the beets throughseparation of said gripping members subsequent to extraction, and

gripping engagement with-the beets prior a means to yieldingly maintainthe several I gripping members in contact with the groimd immediatelyprevious to the extraction of the beets.

4, In*a beet harvesting machine, a shaft, an oper tlng' gear mou t n aha a plurallty of gripping members arranged in pairs and radially withrespect to said gear,

eachv of the-se'veralmembers being adapted for yielding contactith theground during advancement of the machine to. rotate said gear, a triprod associated Witheach pair of gripping members a link and leverconnection between saidtrip rod and the associate gripping members,means engaging each trip rod to yieldingly 5 maintain the grippingmembers in spacedrelation, and means operable by said gear to engagewith said trip. rod and move said gripping members into contact i viththe beets prior, to extraction, a

means operating automatically tomaintain said members in gripplngengagement with the beets during extraction, and a meansto 1 separatesaid gripping members subsequent to extraction, substantially'asdescribed. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature I T. D. BRYAN, C. E. BROWNE;

Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 9f, Patents. Washington, 13.0. i Y

